It’s not uncommon these days for streaming platforms or networks to remove certain episodes of television shows for being deemed too problematic. Now, it seems, the classic Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants is being targeted for such reasons as well. According to a new report, two episodes from SpongeBob SquarePants are being removed from circulation. One of the episodes, Mid-Life Crustacean, had already stopped airing on television by 2018. While it was still available digitally, Nickelodeon has officially taken it away completely.
According to a representative that spoke to IGN:
“‘Mid-Life Crustacean’ has been out of rotation since 2018, following a standards review in which we determined some story elements were not kid-appropriate,” they stated.
While it’s unclear exactly why that particular episode was removed, there are some reasons more obvious than others. For example, towards the end of the episode, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs go on a “panty raid.” Undoubtedly, this is a perfect reason to consider the episode problematic for today’s audience. Or, as more specifically stated above, “not kid-appropriate.”
Meanwhile, the other removed SpongeBob SquarePants episode was titled Kwarantined Krab. The episode was intended for the show’s previously aired twelfth season. While it doesn’t seem to have aired or been made available in any way, it seems that there’s certainly no way it will be released in the future. As for why, it appears the episode’s virus plot was a little too real. While it was written and animated before 2020, a representative said the following:
“The ‘Kwarantined Crab’ [sic] centers on a virus storyline, so we have decided to not air it due to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic,” they concluded.
So while the majority of the series remains complete, and can be streamed on the newly released platform Paramount Plus, it looks like these two episodes will no longer be associated with the show.